Hey mac,
First of all, welcome to the forums - glad you dropped by!
For our dogs, we've used both types of crates, so I'll share some of the positives and negatives that we experienced with each.
Carriers, like the one pictured here.
Positives
- Relatively easy to break down. Just unscrew a couple of screws.
- As the name would imply, these are very good for travel with your pup.
Negatives
- For whatever reason, Chloe had accidents all the time when we were keeping her in a Carrier.
- Though they're relatively easy to break down, cleaning can be a PITA due to lots of little nooks and crannies.
Crates, like the one pictured here.
Positives
- More room for your pup
- Again, for whatever reason, Chloe completely stopped having accidents when we made the switch to a Crate. Possibly due to feeling more a part of the house, as opposed to being in her own little den?
- Though we don't ever have to cleanup accidents any more, with a crate, cleanup is a breeze. Just slide out the tray, hose it down, and replace.
Negatives
- Not quite as portable. Breaking a crate down (and then setting it back up) is possible, but it takes a lot more time.
Again, those are just based on our experiences with the two different types. My mom and my sister both keep their dogs (Bichon Frise) in the carrier style and their dogs don't seem to mind much at all.
